Friday, December 30, 2016

Hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and are due for a Happy New Year as well! 2016 was one hell of a year seeing celebrities and other notable figures dropping like flies, with Star Wars Carrie Fisher and her Hollywood icon mother, Debbie Reynolds passing within a day of each being the saddest icing on the cake. We also ushered a deplorable moron into the Oval Office this year, a well-heeled billionaire who managed to convince hundreds of millions of simpletons into believing that he would magically fix their sorry little lives (even as he almost immediately began to do exactly the opposite); and all of this nonsense was perpetrated under a campaign of heinous fear-mongering along with his pair-bonding with out and out racist neo-nazis; sheesh! What the religious right saw that made them also kiss his lying ass is something for saner historians to ruminate upon should we survive the administration of this asshole. On to other matters ......

There were not as many posts here this year as I may have preferred, but before we blow out the candles anyway, here are my personal selections for the very best pure comics experiences to be had in 2016. *You will note that in a couple of instances a single issue or two is all certain nominees fielded, but less is often more and virtually any of these issues are far superior to much of what stained the comic shop shelves from the major publishers otherwise.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

I just haven't made the time to swing by the Catacombs recently and this is certainly not the kind of post that I would prefer prompted me to return, but what are you gonna do.

The Green Hornet and Kato have finally been reunited in the afterlife. Actor Van Williams familiar to old school fans from his days on Bourbon Street Beat and its television spinoff Surfside 6 passed away on November 28, 2016 at the age of eighty-two from renal failure. Williams is probably best known as the masked hero from the short run 1960s series where he starred opposite the late Bruce Lee.

Despite his hunkish good looks, Williams had only a modest impact in Hollywood with a couple of big screen roles and a minor string of appearances in many classic shows before hitting wider if brief fame as the Hornet. He later served as a reserve sheriffs deputy and he owned a communications company. He was described by friends as a great friend and mentor. The Catacombs extends its sincerest condolences to his family, friends and
fans.

How it all began ....

In 1933, publishers at Eastern Color Press, intent to make better use of their printing equipment (which frequently sat idle between jobs), came up with the idea of printing an 8-page comic section that could be folded down from the large broadsheet to a smaller 9-inch by 12-inch format. The result was the first modern comic book. Containing reprints of newspaper comic strips, this experimental comic book titled "Funnies On Parade" was given away for free. It proved so popular that the following year Eastern published "Famous Funnies" and took the bold step of selling the comic for ten cents through chain stores. The enterprise was a smashing success and Eastern began churning out numerous reprints on a monthly basis. Other publishers, eager to get in on the profits, jumped on the bandwagon and the comic book industry was born!